The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1887-01-08
TOWERS OF SILENCE"
Malabar Fill and Parsee Homes Of
the Dead.
The Five Cylinders of Black Granite
Used For Those Worthy of Sacred
Burlal-A Square Tower Set
Apart for Criminals.

One must be born Parsee, for, like
the Brahmin, his sacred faith admits of
no PROSECUTING. On purity as the found
ation-stone is built the superstructure
of his belief, and Zoroaster's three
precepts, "good thoughts, ''good
words" ''good deeds,' are his rule
of life. That he may be constantly re-
minded of his duty to move within the
circle of these precepts, he wears his
girdle triply coiled. A Parsee child
should be born on the ground floor of
the house, that by humility at the be-
ginning and correctness of after-life he
may merit advancement, not only in
this world, but in that which is to
come.
When seven days old an astrologer is
called upon to cast his nativity. He
first gives list of names that the child
may bear, and allows the parents to
choose one of them; then drawing set
of hieroglyphics with chalk on wooden
tablet, he predicts the future of the
infant, which the relatives receive with
1Mpllcll ldlbH anu duiulIllS ECNcIOuCO.
This document is carefully preserved
among the family records, and often
has marked influence on the after
life. Having attained the age of about
seven years, the first religious cere-
mony is performed. which makes the
child an accountable being, and brings
him into full fellowship of the faith of
his fathers. The ceremony begins with
an ablution for publication. The priest
then invests him with the sacred girdle,
and tying the cord around the waist,
he pronounces a benediction, and
throws slices of fruit, seeds, perfumes
and spices upon the head. This kusti,
or sacred cord, is woven only by women
of the priestly class, and is composed
OF seventy-two white cotton threads,
the number emblematic of the seventy
two chapters of the Yasna, portion
of the Zend-Avesta. Should the child
die before the performance of this cere-
mony his soul is supposed to return to
Ahura Mazda, from whom it came, as
pure as when it entered the world,
not having yet reached the age of moral
accountability.
Childhood is the usual time of mar
rage, though it is sometimes con-
tracted beetwen grown-up people.
To the parents of the bride and groom,
who make all arrangements, the event
is one of absorbing interest, and is at.
tended with much ceremony and dis
play. The Parsee women hold an hon
orable position; they are allowed tC
appear in public, to mingle in society
and to them is given full charge o.
household affairs.
Running out into. the sea from the
western part of Bombay Island rises
Malabar HILL picturesque ridge, ter
raced to the top, and covered with trop
ical trees and shrubs and flowers
among which are scattered the luxHri
Gus homes of the more wealthy resi-
dents of the city, both Indian and Euro
pean. The summit of this hill com
mands view of surprising beauty
At its foot, on the right, lies the sea
side village of Breach Candy; on tn,
left the city of Bombay, with its beau
tiful bay and harbor studded with ROCKY
islands, the blue water of the Arabian
sea widening out in the distance on on
side and the range of the Western
Ghauts rising on the other, towerin!
grandly to the height of six Thousand
feet and stretching along the line of tn
mainland coast as far as the eye cal
reach.
There, in the midst of garden O
loneliness, where the silence seems sa
cred and every suggestion is one G
peaceful rest, the Parsees have erecte
their Sagris, or Houses of Prayer, an
the Towers of Silence in which they la
their dead. In the largest Sagr, wit
religious ceremony, they kindled year
ago the sacred fire, which, being con
stantly fed with incense and fragran
wood, is never allowed to go out.
The Parsees emphatically deny tn
common imputation that they worshi
fire, declaring that they hold it sacred
not as God, but only as a symbol {
deity. Zoroaster taught that "eartf
air and water should never be defle
by contact with putrefying flesh. br
that the decaying particles of our boo
les should be dissipated as rapidly 8
possible in such way that neitht
Mother Earth nor the beings she noul
ishes should be in the slightest degre
contaminated. " To the Dokhmas scare,
ly belongs the name of towers, so pecl
liar are their proportions. Built I
black granite and covered with whit
chunam Ca stucco made of calcine
shells), they CLEAN among the luxur
ant foliage like huge white cylinders
SOLID masonry. The largest of the fly